World’s Large Rivers Conference

The pressures and impacts on the World’s Large Rivers have increased greatly in recent years, as a consequence of their exploitation to meet human needs. Large rivers are particularly exposed to problems of multiple uses, often with conflicting aims. At the global scale, there is no overview assessment of the current status of the World’s Large Rivers, the conflicting demands on such rivers, and likely future anthropogenic impacts, as well as the potential for restoration and the associated problems.

The International Conference on “The Status and Future of the World’s Large Rivers” is organised by Prof. Helmut Habersack and aims to provide a global forum for a wide-ranging discussion of key issues related to research on large rivers and to their effective and sustainable management, involving both scientists and decision makers.

A statement, agreed by the participants, will be produced to assess the existing and future needs of large rivers in order to better integrate their use, protection and restoration and to devise an action plan.

By now, more than 550 abstracts covering all relevant topics and rivers (from the Amazon over the Congo and the Yellow River to the Siberian Rivers) have been submitted to the conference and we are looking forward to welcome more than 400 participants coming from 73 nations at this important event.

More information for participation can be found on http://worldslargerivers.boku.ac.at.